David Laûamea Kahalepouli Kinoiki KawÃÂnanakoa (February 19, 1868 â June 2, 1908) was a prince of the Hawaiian Kingdom and founder of the House of KawÃÂnanakoa. Born into Hawaiian nobility, KawÃÂnanakoa grew up the royal court of his uncle King KalÃÂkaua and aunt Queen Kapiûolani who adopted him and his brothers after the death of their parents. On multiple occasions, he and his brothers were considered as candidates for the line of succession to the Hawaiian throne after their cousin Princess Kaûiulani but were never constitutionally proclaimed. He was sent to be educated abroad in the United States and the United Kingdom where he pioneered the sport of surfing. After his education abroad, he served as a political advisor to KalÃÂkaua's successor, Queen Liliûuokalani until the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893. After Hawaii's annexation to the United States, he co-founded the Democratic Party of Hawaii.
KawÃÂnanakoa was born February 19, 1868, at Kaûalaûa at the mouth of the Pauoa Valley, in Honolulu, on the old homestead of his aunt Queen Kapiûolani. KawÃÂnanakoa was the first child of his father David Kahalepouli Piûikoi from Kauaûi island, and his mother Victoria Kinoiki Kekaulike, a noble from the district of Hilo who was later the royal governor of the island of Hawaiûi. His younger brothers were Edward Abnel Keliûiahonui (1869âÂÂ1887) and Jonah Kà «hià  Kalanianaûole (1871âÂÂ1922).
Both his parents were linked to the reigning House of KalÃÂkaua. KawÃÂnanakoa's mother was the youngest sister of Queen Kapiûolani, consort to King KalÃÂkaua, who ruled from 1874 to 1891. KawÃÂnanakoa's father was also King KalÃÂkaua's paternal first cousin.
His family was of the aliûi class of the Hawaiian nobility and traced their descents to the ruling lines of each of the Hawaiian Islands prior to conquest. His mother's paternal line goes back to the ruling families of the island of Hawaiûi while her maternal grandfather was King Kaumualiûi, the last ruler of an independent Kauaûi before its cession to King Kamehameha I who united the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1810. Kaumualiûi was also descended from the ruling families of Maui and Oûahu. KawÃÂnanakoa's father's paternal line was descended from a junior line of Kauaûi while his fatherâÂÂs mother maternal line also originated from the ruling line of Hawaiûi Island.
His name KawÃÂnanakoa translates as "fearless prophecy" in Hawaiian. Born with the surname Piûikoi, KawÃÂnanakoa and Kalanianaûole (more commonly referred to as Kà «hià Â) later adopted their given Hawaiian names as their surname. Sources state the brothers either changed their names in 1883 or 1891.
At a young age, KawÃÂnanakoa and Kà «hià  were hÃÂnai (informally adopted) by the childless Kapiûolani and KalÃÂkaua while the second brother Keliûiahonui was hÃÂnai by their other maternal aunt Poûomaikelani.
After their father's death in 1878, his mother Kekaulike brought KawÃÂnanakoa and his brothers to live in Honolulu. The family split their times living with the king and queen on the premise of the old ûIolani Palace or at Kapiûolani's private residence Pualeilani in Waikëkë where the Hyatt Regency Waikiki now stands. After the completion of the new palace in 1882, they occupied a large second floor bedroom, which later became known as the "Imprisonment Room" because it was where KalÃÂkaua's successor Queen Liliûuokalani was imprisoned in 1895.
On February 10, 1883, KawÃÂnanakoa was granted by letters patent the title of Prince and style of His Royal Highness by King KalÃÂkaua along with his mother, brothers and aunt. On February 14, KawÃÂnanakoa served as bearer of the crown and Kà «hià  as either the bearer of the palaoa or the consort crown during KalÃÂkaua's and Kapiûolani's coronation ceremony at ûIolani Palace. After the death of Kekaulike in 1884, KalÃÂkaua and Kapiûolani assumed legal guardianship over all three boys.
In KalÃÂkaua's will drafted in 1888, KawÃÂnanakoa and his brother Kà «hià  (their other brother Keliûiahonui was deceased by this point) were included in a proposed line of succession after Liliûuokalani, the king's niece Princess Kaûiulani, Queen Kapiûolani, and Princess Poûomaikelani. The king also furthered outlined that he wished in the case that the throne passed to KawÃÂnanakoa or his brother that they "assume the name and title of Kalakaua, and to be numbered in order from" him.
On Article 22 of proposed 1893 Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Queen Liliûuokalani outlined the succession to include Kaûiulani followed by KawÃÂnanakoa and Kà «hià  and their legitimate heirs.
KawÃÂnanakoa and his brothers were educated at St. Alban's College (now ûIolani School) and Oahu College (now Punahou School). After completing their basic education in Hawaii, they also traveled abroad for further study. His uncle King KalÃÂkaua championed future Hawaiian leaders attaining a broader education with his 1880 Hawaiian Youths Abroad program. The Hawaiian government sent KawÃÂnanakoa and his brothers to attend Saint Matthew's School, a private Episcopal military school in San Mateo, California. KawÃÂnanakoa was enrolled in the fall of 1884 and his younger brothers were enrolled in the spring of 1885. Keliûiahonui fell ill at school and returned to Hawaii where he died. KawÃÂnanakoa and Kà «hià  returned to Hawaii shortly afterward.
KawÃÂnanakoa would also attend the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester from 1890 to 1891.
While attending school in San Mateo, KawÃÂnanakoa and his two brothers would travel south to the Pacific seashore at Santa Cruz. The brothers demonstrated the Hawaiian sport of board surfing to the locals, becoming the first California surfers in 1885. In September 1890, KawÃÂnanakoa and Kà «hià  became the first surfers in the British Isles and taught their English tutor John Wrightson to surf on the beaches of Bridlington in northern England.
On August 31, 1891, Queen Liliûuokalani appointed KawÃÂnanakoa as a member of her Privy Council of State, a constitutionally-created advisory body purposed to advise and consent to acts made by the monarch. KawÃÂnanakoa was also created Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of KalÃÂkaua.
Liliûuokalani was overthrown on January 17, 1893, and the Provisional Government of Hawaii established under pro-annexation leader Sanford B. Dole was officially recognized. The queen temporarily relinquished her throne to the United States, rather than the Dole-led government, in hopes that the United States would restore Hawaii's sovereignty to the rightful holder. A pro-annexationist delegation headed by Lorrin A. Thurston was sent by the provisional government for Washington, D.C., on January 19, to lobby for immediate annexation by the United States. The queen wrote letters to President Benjamin Harrison and President-elect Grover Cleveland outlining her case. However, the provisional government refused the queen's request to send her own envoys on the same ship as their delegation. Liliûuokalani appointed KawÃÂnanakoa and her lawyer Paul Neumann to represent her case. Archibald Scott Cleghorn paid for the travel expenses of Edward C. Macfarlane, another of the queen's envoys, to protect the rights of his daughter Princess Kaûiulani. Annexationist William Richards Castle, who was a commissioner on Thurston's delegation, described KawÃÂnanakoa as "a very pleasant fellow," but, "of course, [is] purely ornamental."
The trio left Honolulu on the Australia on February 2, arrived in San Francisco on February 11, and reached Washington, DC, on February 17. Macfarlane and KawÃÂnanakoa were dispatched to present the queen's letter to President-elect Cleveland. While in New York, KawÃÂnanakoa also visited his cousin Princess Kaûiulani, who was in the United States to protest the proposed annexation of Hawaii, with her guardian Theophilus Harris Davies. Dissent developed between Davies and Liliûuokalani's representatives in the United States over Davies' influence over Kaûiulani. KawÃÂnanakoa along with Neumann, Macfarlane and John Mott-Smith, the Hawaiian Minister to the United States, voiced criticism at Davies' action in bringing Kaûiulani to the United States without the consent of Cleghorn or the queen. Cleveland was inaugurated on March 4. The new president withdrew the treaty of annexation from the Senate on March 9 and appointed James Henderson Blount on March 11 as special commissioner to investigate the overthrow. Neumann, Macfarlane and KawÃÂnanakoa returned on April 7.
After the formation of the Republic of Hawaii, KawÃÂnanakoa became a supporter of the Royalist resistance and opposition to the overthrow of the monarchy. On January 6âÂÂ9, 1895, supporters of the monarchy launched an unsuccessful counter-revolution led Robert William Wilcox to restore Liliûuokalani to the throne. After the failed rebellion, the queen was imprisoned in the former bedrooms of the princes at ûIolani Palace. Documents presented against the former queen at the subsequent trials included signed commissions for a restored monarchial government with KawÃÂnanakoa and Kà «hià  as governors of Maui and Kauai, respectively. A month after the rebellion, KawÃÂnanakoa was arrested and jailed at Oahu Prison for misprision of treason on February 21. KawÃÂnanakoa would be released due to lack of evidence. His brother Kà «hià  played a more active role in the rebellion and was found guilty by a military tribunal and sentenced to one year imprisonment.
The Republic of Hawaii was annexed via the Newlands Resolution, a joint resolution of Congress, on July 7, 1898. The annexation ceremony was held on August 12, 1898, at the former ûIolani Palace, now being used as the executive building of the government. President Dole handed over "the sovereignty and public property of the Hawaiian Islands" to United States minister Harold M. Sewall. The flag of Hawaii was lowered, and the flag of the United States was raised in its place. Liliûuokalani with Kaûiulani, KawÃÂnanakoa and Kà «hià Â, their family members and retainers boycotted the event and shuttered themselves away at Washington Place, the private residence of Liliûuokalani, in mourning. Many Native Hawaiians and royalists followed suit and refused to attend the ceremony.
Following annexation, the Hawaiian Organic Act established the Territory of Hawaii. KawÃÂnanakoa became one of five founders of the Democratic Party of Hawaii. He attended the 1900 Democratic National Convention in Kansas City, Missouri and was the first royal to attend a national presidential nominating convention, where he was successful in gaining affiliation between his party and the Democratic Party in a party vote at the convention to incorporate Hawaii. He voted to break a tie about inserting a plank into the convention platform regarding free silver.
The Democrats nominated KawÃÂnanakoa to run for the position of delegate to the United States Congress for the Territory of Hawaii in 1900. He placed third behind the Home Rule Party victor Robert William Wilcox and the Republican nominated Samuel Parker. In the subsequent election cycle, his younger brother Kà «hià  (who was a former member of the Home Rule Party) joined the Republicans while the Democrats including KawÃÂnanakoa allied with Wilcox. There was allegedly no animosity between the two brothers over the political differences. Kà «hià  ended up winning the election, becoming the first former royal prince to serve in the United States Congress.
Records indicate that there may have been a written agreement of betrothal with Princess Kaûiulani, that was quickly aborted. An unsubstantiated announcement dated February 3, 1898, was printed in The San Francisco Call and later reprinted in newspapers across the United States. According to the report, the betrothal was dependent upon the finalization of deeds to a sizeable real estate holding, transferred from Queen Kapiûolani to both KawÃÂnanakoa and Kalanianaûole. On February 19, a denial of betrothal from KawÃÂnanakoa was printed in the newspapers. Kapiûolani did deed all her property, real and personal, to the brothers on February 10, with the express stipulation that the documentation not be executed until she was ready. Kapiûolani wanted to hold off the transfer until she was too old to manage the property herself, and/or otherwise would believe she was close to death. She last saw the document with her notary Carlos A. Long, with her instructions to have changes made in the wording. Instead, the brothers had the deed executed immediately, without her knowledge.
Family lore also conflicts over the exact nature of her relationship with KawÃÂnanakoa. Kaûiulani's niece Mabel Robertson Lucas said that the two cousins were close but only like siblings. Nancy and Jean Francis Webb's 1962 biography of Kaûiulani says that KawÃÂnanakoa's eventual wife told an unnamed biographer or close friend that "of course I never could have married David if Kaûiulani had lived".
On January 6, 1902, KawÃÂnanakoa married Abigail Wahiûikaûahuûula Campbell in a Roman Catholic ceremony officiated by Patrick William Riordan, Archbishop of San Francisco at the Occidental Hotel. His wife was the eldest daughter of Scots-Irish industrialist James Campbell and Abigail Kuaihelani Maipinepine Bright, who refused to let her daughter marry the prince until he signed a prenuptial agreement. Two days prior, his mother-in-law had remarried to KawÃÂnanakoa's former political rival Samuel Parker. After their marriage, Abigail assumed the courtesy title of princess. Their children were Princess Abigail Kapiûolani (1903âÂÂ1961), Prince David KalÃÂkaua (1904âÂÂ1953), and Princess Lydia Liliûuokalani (1905âÂÂ1969). His descendants which continue through his daughter Kapiûolani are recognized by factions of the Hawaiian community as heirs to the Hawaiian throne.
KawÃÂnanakoa converted to Roman Catholicism in 1907, no doubt through the urging of his wife.
KawÃÂnanakoa died of pneumonia June 2, 1908, in San Francisco. After an elaborate funeral, he was buried in the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii.